Thanksgiving. Grace. Joy.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,  for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Not too long ago, God taught me the life-transforming lesson of trusting Him completely, and most of the time I do, yet there are times when circumstances can come at us with such a volume and speed, that we have to catch our breath and be reminded that God is still to be trusted. We forget, for a moment, that we are to cast burdens on His shoulders. Always. The gift of releasing to Him will never change. The LORD does not change. 

This past month has been concerning and exhausting. I felt burdened. Heavy. Heavier than I have felt in a long time. Time spent talking of burdens overshadowed the time spent experiencing His joy. I began to carry the weight of those concerns squarely on my own shoulders. Something I was never meant to do...

Then, on a regular Monday, I felt something stir in my heart... a whispered reminder of what I had learned and known... His joy. Was this God stirring my heart?  Or was it just me?  The very next day, God let me know that it was indeed He who was stirring my heart... It was He who whispered the word: Joy. 

Tuesday morning brought the promise of a new five-week Bible study at church. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I wasn't sure exactly what it was about, but was excited to begin something new. As I was driving to bible study, I was listening to KLOVE, our Christian radio station as a Christian comedienne was being interviewed... She spoke of the LORD being our joy. Hmmm...

I arrived early to Bible study to set up the registration table that I would be manning later in the morning.  As I was stacking the books to be bought by the women who would be coming through our doors...  I looked up and saw a woman I hadn't known before. She was very early. And new to the church. I gave her a book and she told me her name... her name was Joy. I smiled.

The Bible study video was about to start. I settled in my chair, book opened, pencil in hand, new and old friends around me, and ready to write down nuggets and treasures that I would glean from the message about to be given. One Thousand Gifts was about to begin. This beautiful, heart-stopping video, based off Ann Voskamp's best-selling book, focused on living life by one beautiful word:  eucharisteo. Eucharisteo, the word Jesus used when He gave thanks at the Last Supper. The word He used when He broke the bread and shared the wine. The word Jesus used when He knew He was about to be betrayed, denied, beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to a cross. Eucharisteo. The word that has three meanings rolled into one. Thanksgiving. Grace. And Joy... I caught my breath.

I left Bible study, focused on this beautiful word... eucharisteo.  Thanksgiving. Grace. Joy.

The LORD brought the word Joy across my path two more times that amazing Tuesday... once in a Proverb and once through my dear daughter leaning over our balcony, shouting down to me, "Hey, Mom? Guess what our devotional for today is about? It's about Joy!"  And I smiled.

Yes, God wanted me to be joyful again. Ministering, mindful, praying, caring, but joyful. He wanted me to encourage, comfort, guide and love; to be a willing vessel for His Holy Spirit... with His joy.

God whispered, where is your joy, child?  I created you to spread joy.  No, not the delusional joy based on denial. The joy deeply rooted in the full knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Full-on joy in the knowledge of His transformative power.  Shout-from-the roof top joy of His restorative healing of our bodies and souls.  Yes, that joy. A joy I was meant to embrace, spread over my family, and share with those whom the LORD has put in my path. 

Joy... Yes, now I know it was God stirring my heart that Monday. A new lesson... a new season... living in eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Grace. Joy. 

Dear Heavenly Father, You are always teaching us as we walk along this journey with You. LORD, You have this beautiful way of shepherding us down the path of life. LORD, help us to rejoice always, and when we are burdened, to cast those burdens upon you. We are so grateful that Your yoke is light. Praise You, God, for You never change, You are always in control and we can have complete trust in You. LORD, You are always revealing new lessons and reminding us of old ones that we may have forgotten. Thank You God, for loving us so deeply and working so clearly in our lives. LORD, I praise You as I pray this all in the joyous name of Jesus... Amen.  

The Definition of Hope

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

With two busy teenagers, I find myself driving from place to place quite a bit in this season of my life. I love to listen to Christian radio stations as I am taxiing my precious cargo around town, and whenever I hear inspiring words on the radio, I grab a pencil and whatever paper I can find, and quickly write it down.  As I was cleaning out my car this past week, I came across a handwritten note, scribbled across the back of a store coupon:

"Because of Jesus, we have hope. And hope changes everything."

How true! Yes, Jesus truly is our hope! Yet as I began to think about these words of truth written hastily on the back of my coupon, I realized that the word hope can really be quite generic.  We tend to use the word "hope" frequently, but what does the word "hope" really mean? We can hope for a change in the weather, and we can hope for a great parking spot at the grocery store when it is pouring rain.  But we can also hope for medical tests to turn out in our favor, or we can hope for a lost loved one to come to know the LORD... 

I decided to look up the definition of the word "hope." Merriam-Webster defines it as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. To be honest, I found this definition to be a little less than inspiring. As I read further down the page, the dictionary gave the "archaic" definition... the definition that is considered "old", and "no longer used"...  there, on the page, it was written: hope -- a feeling of trust. Yes. Perfect. 

"Because of Jesus, we have trust.  And this feeling of trust changes everything."

The hope we have in Jesus is a deeply rooted trust in Him. It is a trust that lightens our burdens... a trust that gives us a peace that passes all understanding. It is a trust that we are His; dearly loved and cherished... a trust that we are held in His mighty hands, never to be let go. 

Because of Jesus, we have hope. And this hope does indeed change everything. We hope in His goodness, in His mercy and in His faithfulness.  We hope in His healing, His provision and His protection. We hope in the One who repairs, redeems, and transforms. And we hope in His promises, so clearly revealed in His Word. 

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for giving us hope through the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, You sent Your only Son so that we could know Him, believe Him, and have eternal life through Him. LORD, we place our hope in Jesus, the One who changes everything. He is the One who redeems and He is the One who transforms. My heart trusts in You, LORD -- You are my Strength, my Shield, and my Peace. I praise You and thank You for hope -- that deeply rooted feeling of trust -- that can only come from You. In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.